


can a surfboard be a metaphor for life

by cryptic_trash



Category: Titans (TV 2018)
Genre: Brother-Sister Relationships, Dad!Dick Grayson, Dick is trying his best, Father-Daughter Relationship, Father-Son Relationship, Fluff, Gar and Rachel are seven, Gen, Humor, Platonic Relationships, and adorable, cause i'm sick of winter and want summer, short fic, the fam takes a trip to the beach
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-15 21:07:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29195802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cryptic_trash/pseuds/cryptic_trash
Summary: Dick takes his kids to the beach
Relationships: Dick Grayson & Garfield Logan, Dick Grayson & Garfield Logan & Raven, Dick Grayson & Rachel Roth
Comments: 2
Kudos: 20





	can a surfboard be a metaphor for life

**Author's Note:**

> I was planning on making this longer, but the longer it went, the more it strayed away from my original idea. I wanted to keep it fluffy, no angst today.

Yawning, Garfield stretched his arms out and turned to his sister, eyes blinking tiredly.

“Why are we leaving for the beach so early?” He threw his arm out, gesturing towards the sun, which was rising and causing the sky to be a mix of blues and oranges. “The sun’s not even awake yet!”

Rachel shrugged. “Dad likes to be early, and he said it’s a long drive.”

“Correct.” 

The children instantly turned their attention to the man when he spoke. 

Their father walked from the backyard, where the shed was located, to the jeep sitting in the driveway. He was holding something under his arm in the shape of an elongated oval with multiple colors splashed all over and things that looked like three little black fins stuck out from one end.

Curiosity piqued, the two rushed over and walked alongside their dad. Rachel on one side and Gar on the other.

Rachel pointed at the strange colorful object. “What’s that?”

Dick glanced down to Rachel, then back to the jeep. “It’s a surfboard.”

“Oh! A surfboard!--what’s a surfboard?”

Placing the board into the jeep’s roof rack, he grabbed black strap that hung from one of the rack’s bars and tossed it over the board to be fastened on the other side. 

“Well, It’s a board that can float in water.” Gar and Rachel followed after Dick like little ducklings as he strolled to the other side of the vehicle. “And since it floats in water, people use them to ride the ocean waves. It’s called surfing.”

“Wow!” Rachel gasped.

Garfield blinked up at Dick. “You surf?”

“Yeah, but I haven’t in a while.”

“Why?” Asked Gar as he and Rachel trailed behind Dick once more.

Stopping in his tracks, Dick turned around and gazed down at the small boy with bright green hair. A smile appearing on his face. He bent down and scooped the boy up and into his arms, standing up straight with a grunt.

“That’s because I’ve been busy with you two.” He tapped Gar’s small nose with the end of his finger, causing the young metahuman to giggle happily.

Rachel tugged at the bottom of Dick’s shirt to grab his attention. “Are you sad that you can’t surf anymore?”

Dick shifted his gaze from Gar to Rachel. Staying silent for a moment, he thought about the question deeper than the little girl intended. Thinking of surfing as a metaphor for his life before the kids. He shook his head. “No, I like my life. I wouldn’t change it for anything in the world.”

With that, the little demon smiled brightly.

“Alright, let’s get going.” 

Opening the back door, he sat Garfield inside and the boy scrambled across the other seats to his official sibling assigned one on the left.

“Your turn, princess!” Dick smiled, picking Rachel up.

“If I’m a princess, then Gar’s a big scary dragon!” 

“Rach-”

Garfield exhaled through his nose and folded his arms. “That’s fine. Dragons are cooler than princesses anyway! They’re always afraid.”

Dick rolled his eyes at the siblings’ nonsense bickering and sat Rachel down in her seat. Oh, to be a kid again and argue about something as nonsensical as who’s a dragon and who’s a princess. 

“Then, I’m the dragon 'cause you’re afraid of everything!”

“Am not!” Gar hissed. 

“That’s enough!” The siblings put their argument on pause. “You’re both princesses.”

Just as quickly as they started arguing, they started giggling together like nothing had been said. As usual, Garfield and Rachel could never argue that long before completely changing the topic and going on with the day as normal. They’ve been doing it for years and he wishes he could do the same with some of the people in his life.  
~~  
The kids bounced excitedly in their seats when the jeep came to a stop and parked, awaiting the word.

“Everyone out!”

There it is!

Gar and Rachel clicked their seatbelts loose, then swung the doors open and exited the car.

Outside, Garfield held his hand up to block out the sun that was shining in his face. The sun was high in the sky now, making it much warmer than it was when they left.

“It’s so pretty!” Rachel exclaimed, staring in awe at the cool blue waves calmly washing to shore then pulling away. She twisted her neck and looked back at her father. “How come you’ve never brought us here before?”

“You were too little.” Dick explained simply as he retrieved the beach bag from the trunk.

Rachel gave her brother a gentle push forward, then raced off towards the shore. “C’mon Gar!”

Garfield laughed and ran after her.

Shutting the trunk, Dick swung the bag’s strap over his shoulder and peeked around the car to see the kids racing down to the beach. “Guys! You gotta wait for me!” 

Life was a lot simpler when those two could only crawl. Rachel walked first, then Gar and Dick’s been running everywhere since. He didn’t sign up for all this exercise. 

Halting at the sandy slope that led down onto the shore, the two shared a glance and took a few steps back. The slope being too high for the children to jump down.

But not too high for Dick.

Appearing next to his son and daughter, he gave them a reassuring nod before stepping off the slope’s edge and leapt down without an issue. At the bottom, he turned towards his kids and held his arms out, signaling them to jump.

Rachel hesitated, apprehension settling in her chest. The drop might be no big deal to Dick, he’s much taller than them, but it is to this seven year old.

Garfield on the other hand had no problem leaping off the edge to be caught by their father.

“Good job, Gar!” Dick praised, eyes shining as he gazed at the shapeshifter he held. “You’re my little daredevil, huh?”

“Yeah!” Gar squeaked. “Can I do it again?”

Dick couldn’t help but laugh at his son’s boldness as he sat him on the ground. “Maybe later, it’s your sister’s turn.”

Turning, he faced Rachel again. “It’ll be okay, Rach. I won’t let you fall, I promise.”

“It’s fun!” Gar added from beside Dick as an attempt at encouragement. 

Taking a deep breath, she stepped forward and squeezed her eyes shut. Hopping off the edge, she only felt the rush of wind for a second before being caught by Dick.

“See! Fun!” Gar cheered.

“You can open your eyes now.”

Rachel blinked her eyes open and relief washed over her when she saw Dick’s brown eyes gazing down at her.

“Great job, sweetie.” Dick placed a kiss on his daughter’s forehead, then sat her next to her brother.

Rachel shifted her foot in the sand and stared down, feeling embarrassed. “That wasn’t as scary as I thought it was gonna be..”

Dick chuckled softly. “Well, now you know.”

Garfield bounced in place, eyes sparkling. Now that they’re truly on the beach, he was ready to go make sandcastles and collect sea shells. “Can we go play now?”

Rachel’s previous state seemed to disappear the second Gar spoke about playing. “Yeah! Can we?”

Their father thought for a moment, then gave them a nod. He had to find the perfect place to put their beach things, anyway. That’d be boring to them. “Sure, just don’t go in the water without me, ‘kay?”

“Okay!” The siblings replied in unison. 

Gar and Rachel ran off, shouting in excitement.

Pride swelled in the man’s chest as he watched, bringing a smile to his face. Adopting Garfield and Rachel seven years ago? Definitely, the best decision of his life. Even though Donna had to help a lot through the first year. He’s been doing great alone since then--

Shit.

“Gar! Rach! Wait!” Dick shouted, following after the children. “I forgot your sunscreen!”

Well.. he’s been doing fine alone so far.


End file.
